Show Description: What happened on the dark dusty patio of the 8th-and a half oldest gay bar in Minnesota that warm August night? Join the hosts of the local podcast “The 4 “W”s and the “H” of Murder” as they uncover the truth.
Genre & Content: Comedy, Drama, LGBTQIA+ Content Warnings: Adult Language, Crude Humor, Sexual Content, Abuse/Physical Violence, Other Divisive Content
The press pitch on this one offers a bit more detail:
“The 4 “W”s and the “H” of Murder” is a comedy written by local artist Maureen L Bourgeois. This production is set in a podcast recording studio in Minneapolis, Minnesota hosted by Suss and Sparks who are dedicated to the truth of a murder in a local gay bar. Be a part of this dark comedy as the What, When, Where, Why and How of murder are uncovered with dark unexpected twists and turns.
Now I’ll be honest, normally “dead gay person” as an element of the plot is enough to put me off. Murdered gay person even more so. (If you can do a variation on the famous funeral speech from the movie Heathers – “I love my dead gay son!” – in describing the plot, then I’m probably not interested.) Cold case shows on TV also leave me a bit sad because, well, even if they solve the case, the person’s still dead, the damage is still done. However, I do trust Maureen as an artist, and if she’s doing this story, in this way, it’s for a reason. So I’m still curious to see how it plays out.
Brad Lawrence is such a great storyteller. I’m very happy he keeps coming backto our Fringe because I love listening to him spin a tale. He’s also remarkably good at weaving elements of the clash between religion and “real life” into his compelling, and unexpectedly funny, solo shows. Like another regular Fringe visitor, Les Kurkendaal-Barrett, I’m always happy to see Brad’s name appear on the schedule, and look forward to whatever story he’s got up his sleeve next. Whether it’s The Gospel of Sherilyn Fenn (which landed him on my pre-Fringe Top 10 list back in 2016), or The Idaho Jackson Action Playset, or Life Underground, I never know what I’m in for, and I sometimes struggle to convey exactly what the experience was like, but I’m always glad I went along for the ride. This year will be no different.
Show Description: When Storyteller Brad Lawrence was 14, a friend in his Evangelical youth group told him a secret and made him promise to tell no one. And he didn't. After she died and he lost his faith, for over thirty years.
Genre & Content: Storytelling, Religious Content, Political Content Warnings: Adult Language, Blood, Drug content, Sexual Content, Mental Illness, Sexual Violence, Abuse/Physical Violence, Gun/Weapon Usage, Violence, Suicidal Ideation/Self-Harm, Other Divisive Content
The press pitch for the show offers some more enticing (and foreboding) details:
At fourteen, Brad Lawrence made a promise to keep a secret for his friend Jessica, a secret that, decades later, he realizes may have contributed to her untimely death at the hands of her abusive husband. Brad and Jessica’s story begins in an Evangelical youth group, where they form an unlikely bond amid apocalyptic sermons and purity culture. Years later, Jessica was murdered and Brad’s silence, born of loyalty and habit, kept her truth locked away just as she had told it to him—until the world events forced him to confront whether he had kept her story faithfully, or if he had let secrecy warp her memory and her loss. This show tackles themes of reproductive choice, violence, murder, suicide, basically all the trigger warnings, and still finds some humor in spite of the darkness. Because a little light is needed to see our way to the truth.
The Fringe is always chock full of solo shows and storytelling. It’s nice to have a surefire performer I know I’ll enjoy on the schedule, and then take a risk on some other newcomers as well over the course of the festival (after all, that’s how Brad Lawrence first crossed my path).
The thing I enjoy most about theater by younger artists, like those of the Young Artist’s Council of Youth Performance Company, is that it’s often wild and adventurous in very unexpected ways. The artists haven’t been doing theater that long, so they haven’t developed any hard and fast ideas about what the “rules” of theater are, and consequently, they’ll try pretty much anything onstage. No one’s told them “you can’t do that” yet. So off they go…
Delete Later Young Artist’s Council of Youth Performance Company Venue: Mixed Blood
Show Description: Delete Later is a cabaret-style peek into the minds of Gen Z teens. Honest, funny, and raw—it’s everything they'd put in their notes app.
Genre & Content: Musical Theater Warnings: None
The pitch in the press document isn’t that much different, or more informative: Delete Later is a cabaret of Gen Z thoughts—like a diary, but in the Notes app onstage.
Since I know precious little of use about Gen Z, this should prove very illuminating.
Youth Performance Company is one of the best theaters for young artists and young audiences in town. They may be scrappy and not have huge production budgets, but they’re devoted to developing young people into theater artists who take the work seriously. They have high expectations, and those expectations are met, and quite often exceeded. (It’s not an “oh look how cute they are up on stage!” and that’s it - kind of company.) The Young Artist’s Council was created as an additional outlet for the older members of the company, an offshoot from the regular programming of the YPC where they could develop their own new work, or try something a bit more “out there” than the traditional seasonal programming. It’s been a while since they’ve been on the Fringe roster (YPC and the Young Artist’s Council were on my pre-Fringe Top 10 list back in 2008), and I haven’t had a chance to see their work outside the festival in recent years, so I’m excited to see what they’re up to these days.
The passage of time really smacked me in the face with this latest Tim Uren Fringe offering.
Tim Uren has been doing Fringe shows so long that he appeared on my second ever pre-Fringe Top 10 list back in 2004 with his production of “10,000 Comic Books” (which Mom and I both found delightful and amusing, words that apply to many Tim Uren Fringe shows, oddly enough even the ones in the horror genre sometimes).
I’ve also been blogging about the Fringe so long that my brain had completely forgotten that Tim and I were actually part of the same Fringe show back in 2000, before I ever started this blogging thing. That would be “Will The Real Superman Please Stand Up?” Seeing it on his impressive, but by no means fully exhaustive, list of past Fringe shows was what jogged my rusty memory bank.
Needless to say, I’m always fully on board for a Fringe artist’s trip down memory lane, and when that artist is Tim Uren, with all the stories he’s got to tell, I’m doubly down for the experience.
Show Description: This is a journey from one word to a life on stage. Let’s stagger through the booze-soaked cabaret of Look Ma No Pants, get the boot from The Brave New Workshop, and hide secrets in Fantasy Flight board games.
One Man. Three Shower Curtains. 55 Years. (and maybe a chair if I get tired…)
Fringe veteran Tim Uren invites audiences to find their words with this collection of memories/dreams/delusions about a life in the Twin Cities theater. The show combines Uren's distinctive comedy with behind-the-scenes accounts of his time at the Minnesota Fringe Festival, The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society, and other assorted institutions with oddly long names. Follow a Fringe survivor's journey from one word to booze-soaked cabarets and the end of the world.
Don't miss your chance to attend theater created by someone whose work regularly needs to be qualified with the phrase, "No, really. This was a real show."
Half the fun of researching this post was taking a look at Tim’s sample production list and hearing myself say, “Oh! I remember that one. And that one. And that one…”
A random sampling of that would include, among others:
10,000 Comic Books, The Complete Works of William Shatner (abridged), Frankenstein: Two Centuries, H.P. Lovecraft's "The Rats in the Walls,” Jumpin’ Jack Kerouac, Look Ma No Pants, Macbeth's Awesome Scottish Castle Party, Melancholy London, The Mysterious Old Radio Listening Society Versus the Nazis, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Jekyll, The Tourist Trap, Wilhelmina and Theodore's Exquisite Victorian Adventure, and (as previously noted) Will the Real Superman Please Stand Up?
Fascinating to contemplate what Tim might have up his sleeve this time.
Since I saw The Abortion Chronicles in its previous iteration back in 2016, I already know it works like gangbusters. A five star show about which I said at the time:
“enormously compelling viewing, and quite possibly the most powerful show in the Fringe this year. (If I see too many more shows that knock me back on my heels with the same force this one does, I may need to call for backup.) That said, I welcome theater that moves me like this, over theater that feels safe, any day of the week.
There are any number of ways that something like this could go off the rails. It could be angry, it could be overly sentimental, it could be repetitive, it could just be too damn painful to sit through. The Abortion Chronicles not only avoids all these pitfalls, it opens up and humanizes the issue of abortion in ways I was not expecting.”
And that was back… you know, when Roe v. Wade was still a thing, rather than the Dobbs decision out of our current Supreme Court.
New stories, new cast, and a different sense of urgency (or perhaps the same sense of urgency, just cranked up to 11).
If you’re looking for catharsis, I think we may have your show here.
Show Description: True Abortion Stories. New stories, same old fight. Because abortion is sometimes more terrifying, funny, heartbreaking, liberating, and necessary than you might expect.
The Abortion Chronicles returns. This award-winning show returns with new stories about true abortion experiences gathered from Minnesota women and men. As clinics close and rights are restricted, we continue the dialogue about the many needs for abortion services. New stories, same old fight.
Genre & Content: Spoken Word, Storytelling, Drama, Historical Content, Political Content Warnings: Adult Language, Sexual Content, Other Divisive Content
Ariel says on the show’s Fringe page:
“These stories are true, entrusted to us from women and men throughout Minnesota. We are grateful. Some of them are performed by the authors. Some of them are not. Some of the performers are the right age, ethnicity, orientation as the authors. Some of them are not. When seeking an ensemble I looked for performers who embodied the story they were performing. That is truly all that matters, that the authenticity of the story is embodied in the voices you hear.”
The cast includes Ariel herself, along with Alexis Bartholomew, Laura Delventhal, Kevin Ealain, Winifred Froelich, Patti Gage, Isabelle Hopewell, Christy Johnson, Tara Lucchino, Gregory Parker, Penelope Parsons-Lord, and Kyra Richardson - an ensemble with a lot of performers I’ve seen and admired before, and new names I’m excited to get to know.
Other folks may or may not be up for this, but I’ve definitely got it on my list.
I can say from experience that this format makes for a great show. Check it out.
It’s hard to replicate the title for this one correctly, as it’s sort of a strikethrough line scratching out “exercises” and replacing it with “exorcises” - you know, fun with words, etc.
“high-energy verbal whirlwind of a show, randomized by the spin of a wheel; topics this time: God, Sports, Race, sprinklings of autobiography; funny and serious at the same time - 5 stars”
Show Description: Phil Gonzales spins his Wonder Wheel of Wonder and spins a few tales of his messed up high school theater experience. Storytelling + improv + pathos + trauma + acting lessons! Also, it's apparently funny? (shrug emoji)
Phil Gonzales spins his “Wheel of Trust” to explore how high school theater shaped, and warped, his understanding of trust, performance, and identity. Blending absurdist comedy, audience interaction, and deeply personal storytelling, the show uses ensemble-building exercises to explore the cult-like control his teacher had over the children in his theater program. Part monologue, part satire, and all exorcism, this is a story about reclaiming your narrative, confronting the roles you were forced to play, and learning to trust in spite of the trauma.
Genre & Content: Comedy, Improv, Drama, Solo Show, Storytelling, Audience Participation Warnings: Adult Language, Drug Content, Mental Illness, Abuse/Physical Violence, Sexual Content, Sexual Violence, Suicidal Ideation/Self-Harm, Other Divisive Content
As Phil puts it on his Fringe show page:
“Look, it's been a while since I've done a show. I'm a little older, a little heavier, and a whole lot... sillier? I guess? We'll go with sillier.
A few years ago, I really started delving into my lack of trust: in myself, in my loved ones, in society, in authority. Pretty much in everything. My therapist was all "What gives?" And I was all, "I think I know what gives." And he was all, "Wanna talk about it?" And was all "Lights up... on an empty stage." AND I WAS BACK IN THE GAME, BAYBEEE!
This show is a comedy and a traumady. It's funny because life is funny. Is it graphic? No. I don't go into gory details. Plus, the gory details? Not really mine to share. The truly terrible stuff is someone else's story.
This is the story of my experience in a brutal, horrible, messed up, manipulative, cult of personality. It's the tale of being the inside outsider. The example. The second best. It's the story of self-worth, and how precious a thing that is.
It's also completely randomized! I spin a wheel to guide me through the story! Come every night! I get bored easily, so I tend to make up the show as I go along. Bring a friend! Want to audience participate? We can do that!
PLEASE COME TO MY SHOW.”
Sillier and somehow also more traumatic than last time? In this format? Sure, I’m down. Spin that wheel!
Director Amber Bjork’s theater company The Winding Sheet Outfit is at it again, taking a seemingly obscure artist and elevating their story in theatrical form, showing us why we should care about the fact that they and their art existed.
Art about artists frequently leaves me cold, but never the the way The Winding Sheet Outfit tackles the subject (there’s a reason they first appeared on my pre-Fringe Top 10 list back in 2012; whatever strange or wonderful topic they fixate on, they get their audiences to care about it, too):
Show Description: Channeled from Spirit, Hilma af Klint's paintings are ineffable, groundbreaking, and absolutely breathtaking. It's our honor to introduce you to the artist and her work through movement, music, color and light.
The award-winning devised theater group returns with a story of Swedish painter and mystic, Hilma af Klint. Years before Kandinski and Mondrian, af Klint was commissioned by spirits to paint roadmaps to the universe, grand works that were meant be housed in a great temple. But the message was sent too early and Hilma's art was fated to have a far-future audience that she knew she would never live to see. With live abstract music, movement, and color, The Winding Sheet brings Hilma af Klint's two worlds--that of early 1900 Sweden and the realm of spirits--to the Fringe, placing them in the temple that is Rarig Thrust, for the audiences of now.
Not a story of horror, which they also sometimes revel in, but definitely a story with a supernatural bent to it.
Bjork has assembled another eye-popping cast of devised theater heavy-hitters, led by Boo Segersin as the artist Hilma af Klint and Kristina Fjellman as the Spirit that guides her, along with Megan Campbell Lagas, Kayla Dvorak Feld, Peyton McCandless, Heather Meyer, and composer/musician Derek Lee Miller
Show Description: A multimedia solo show that looks at the American education system through the eyes of the artist's mental illness. Raw and honest, Simondet weaves stories together with pictures, videos, and songs. TRIGGER WARNINGS: child sexual abuse, self harm, suicide. Since speaking as Valedictorian at his High School commencement, Philip Simondet has spent a couple of decades converting his once limitless potential into opportunities missed. Luckily, he got this show written before there was no potential left. He's an improviser, musician, podcaster, teacher, and writer... and still doesn't like himself. Past Fringe productions: Demo Tape (musical) Self-Titled Debut Album (musical) The Local Music Scene (improv) PhilipSimondet.com - website TireFires.com - band's website
Genre & Content: Original Music, Storytelling, Solo Show, Political Content, Religious Content Warnings: Adult Language, Blood, Abuse/Physical Violence, Mental Illness, Sexual Content, Sexual Violence, Suicidal Ideation/Self-Harm
Skipping right to the point, I will go see anything Philip Simondet does at the Fringe.
His first three shows, two original musical comedies (Demo Tape [#3 on my pre-Fringe Top 10 list that year], and the 5-star show Self-Titled Debut Album) and one improv comedy (The Local Music Scene), all centered around local band culture in one way or another, were all fantastic and smart and funny and entertaining, each in their own entirely original ways.
Though the subject matter here is darker, Simondet so completely inverted, subverted and reinvented the concept of an original Fringe musical in his previous outings that I can’t wait to see what he does to the genre of the solo show, again bringing his musical talents to bear in the mix.
Show Description: Part memoir/part music/part fanfiction. Nissa reveals teen crushes. A rotating cast cold reads her sexy vampire tales from high school. 5 unique shows: new, angsty love songs & heartbreaking stories every time.
Actor/writer Nissa Nordland shares her teenage journal entries, poetry and erotic vampire fanfiction, once confined solely to floppy disks. Each performance is a different line up of Twin Cities artists, stories and live love songs. Performers are introduced to fanfiction scenes for the first time in front of the audience as they read them aloud.
Nissa Nordland (the brains behind Special When Lit, in my pre-Fringe Top 10back in 2022) has recruited a murderers row of Fringe regulars as her rotating cast of musician/performers tp bring her surprise fan fiction selections, journal entries and poetry to life and conjure again those awkward, amusing high school years - Dawn Bentley, Amber Bjork, Shanan Custer, Brettina Davis, Jonathan Feld, Keith Hovis, Sam L. Landman, Derek Lee Miller, Nicholas Nelson, Derek “Duck” Washington, and Eric Webster.
This should be a lot of fun, whichever assortment of artists one gets in each performance. I'm looking forward to it.
Though comedian/storyteller Jon Bennett was on my pre-Fringe Top 20 list when he last journeyed to our festival from Australia, I caught him late in the festival, when a lot of Fringe audience members start to enter a bit of a fugue state, particularly in that final weekend, when there are several dozen shows behind us, and a weekend marathon still ahead of us. I didn’t get a chance to write a full review of that show but there is a mini-review impression that I managed to jot down:
Fire In The Meth Lab: Jon Bennett is a gifted alchemist, turning the terrifying things that drugs do to his brother Tim and their family into something (disturbingly) hilarious - 4.5 stars
I was very glad to see that he was returning. This time it’s:
Show Description: A wild, hilarious, & heartfelt story of family, failure, & getting arrested in America. “Masterful, hilarious & heart breaking. AMERICAN’T is a Triumph.” - Broadway World "A Masterpiece – 5 stars" - Fringe Feed
Genre & Content: Comedy, Drama, Solo Show, Storytelling, Political Content Warnings: Adult Language, Crude Humor, Mental Illness, Sexual Content, Suicidal Ideation/Self-Harm
or if you prefer, you can watch a short, goofy interview off his website which was used to preview one of his early shows entitled “Pretending Things Are A Cock” (from the ironic photo series of the same name, apparently :)
And his show image is his smiling, scruffy visage surrounded by a blizzard of 5-star ratings and glowing reviews:
“Hilarious. Five stars.” – Edmonton Sun (Canada) “Wonderfully funny with a hefty layer of emotion under the laughs.” – Los Angeles Times “Armed only with self-deprecating wit and memories, Bennett reminds us that ordinary people lead extraordinary lives. 5 stars.” – The Sunday Mail (Australia) “Bennett is the patron saint of storytelling. 5 stars.” – Broadway Baby (United Kingdom) “Masterful, hilarious, and heartbreaking. A triumph.” – Broadway World “Incinerates your expectations of the solo confessional, this flammable Australian is in a league of his own. 4-1/2 stars.” – Edmonton Journal (Canada) “Bennett is a joy to watch. This is bold, honest, engaging and different to a lot of standard comedy on offer. 5 stars.” – Fringe Guru (United Kingdom) “Stories as funny as they are heart-warmingly honest. You will laugh, but you will also tear up at the honesty he brings to the stage. 5 stars.” – National Post “A tour de force who will make you laugh – to tears. 5 stars.” – Otakuno Culture “Bennett is scorchingly funny.” – New York Daily News “Bennett is an elite comedian with a masterful delivery, sense of time, and superlative writing skills. 5 stars.” – Theatre In London “Energetic, engaging, heartfelt, hilarious. 5 stars.” – Winning At Failing (Australia)
Perhaps I gave him 4.5 stars last time just to be contrary, as there appears to be no shortage of 5-star critical content for him to draw upon.
Also, my personal challenge as a reviewer if I manage to write a full review this time is to somehow avoid the use of the word “hilarious” (epic fail on that last time)
Should also probably call a moratorium on “masterful,” “heartfelt/heartbreaking/heartwarming,” as well as fire-related metaphors (scorching, flammable, incinerates), and anything on the “laugh until you cry” spectrum.
There's plenty more samples of his work on his YouTube channel, if you want a test-drive of his style of comedy.
There’s an additional photo on his website that is just a wallpaper of laurels bestowed upon all his productions and storytelling work.
The bio there is almost exhausting in its scope, and makes me feel positively lazy, a very underachieving Fringer.
All of which is to say, I’m very much looking forward to the new show.
(Assuming, of course, they let him and a show with that title into the country. Fingers crossed. A lot happens in a coupel of weeks time around here…)
It doesn’t say there’s any dance involved this time, but it does flag itself for queer content, so that’s intriguing to a queer playwright such as myself. Fringe is when I get a big dose of queer theater because it’s harder to find the rest of the year. (Of course I’ve got my fill through my work with Threshold Theater, but I mean I like to see queer theater from other people as well :)
Show Description: Manasu is a South Asian queer story that delves into the emotional complexities of chosen family, non-traditional parenthood, and complex love. This tender drama holds space for grief, joy, and the quiet courage it takes to redefine what family means.
Genre & Content: Drama, LGBTQIA+ Content Warnings: Adult Language
That’s a super non-specific description so the production could be pretty much anything on a very broad spectrum. I’m curious to see more of the specifics of what they’re up to.
While I find non-musical improv comedy to be pretty remarkable (we have some amazing improvisers in this town), I find musical improv comedy to be twice as mind-boggling. So that means it’s always a good time. They're not just creating characters and scenarios from scratch out of next to nothing (just a suggestion from the audience) and keeping them rolling for a full set, they’re doing it with songs they also create out of thin air. And the Shrieking Harpies are some of the best. Great voices, great comedic instincts, wild ideas, and they’re just great at working off one another. I’ve seen themtwice in the Fringe already but I’m overdue for a return trip.
Shrieking Harpies Presents: Period Piece The Shrieking Harpies Venue: Barker Center Show Description: Join the Shrieking Harpies as they create a fully improvised musical narrative for each show in a different time period. You'll laugh, cry, and sing yourself all the way home! Genre & Content: Comedy, Improv, Musical Theater, Original Music, Audience Participation, LGBTQIA+ Content Warnings: Adult Language, Loud Noises
I’ll let them do the talking about their new spin on their standard formula:
“The Shrieking Harpies are a musical improv trio consisting of Lizzie Gardner, Hannah Wydeven, Taj Ruler, and Justin Nellis on the piano keys who specialize in creating long-form musical narratives from a single suggestion!
They’ve been performing together as a known group around the Twin Cities since 2016, and have regularly performed in both improv-specific spaces like HUGE theater and other theaters all over the cities, most recently Twin Cities Improv Festival this summer at the Phoenix Theater in Minneapolis. They have also performed and headlined multiple festivals nationally.
This is their fifth time performing at the Minnesota Fringe (most recently in 2023), and they are so excited to be back! You can expect their shows to make you laugh, cry, and everything in between, with a touch of magic and strong female friendship.
This year, we've decided to take a little spin on our show with different periods (of time) as our guideline, along with other audience suggestions.
While we will be creating our stories within these periods, please do not come to this show expecting historical accuracy, as with most improv shows, you will be gravely disappointed.
Magic and the fantastic tend to reign supreme with us, as well as the smashing of occasional patriarchies.
We love having a blast and tend to follow the fun, and we truly love the audiences that come to the Minnesota Fringe!”
Looking forward to a truly random musical no one’s ever heard or seen before.
This one comes with a Fringe pedigree from three or more different angles if you keep staring at it long enough.
Invasive Species, or: In Space No-One Can Hear Your Steam Snikt!Bamf!Thwip! Venue: Rarig Thrust Show Description: On a quiet night in the Harbor of London, the sailing vessel Nostromo crashes into the dock with only one surviving crew member. What happened? And why is everyone wearing tiny top hats? Genre & Content: Comedy, Horror, Mystery, Puppetry, Sci-Fi Warnings: Blood, Gun/Weapon Usage, Loud Noises, Violence
Second, it’s the latest from Snikt!Bamf!Thwip! (aka Tim Wick) who has been lampooning iconic pop culture stories (from Star Trek to Bridgerton to Agatha Christie to John Wick from long before they landed on my pre-Fringe Top 20 list back in 2012, continuing on to this present incarnation, a steampunk satirical version of the Alien sci-fi/horror movie franchise (just as they’re gearing up for a TV series version where a bunch of greedy morons bring the titular alien invasive species to Earth, with predictably gory results - say goodbye to the human race, I guess.)
"Invasive Species: or In space No-One Can Hear your Steam" is an original comedy taking a look at "Alien" and "Aliens" through the lens of Steampunk. The sailing vessel Nostromo crashes into the London harbor with only one surviving crew member. What happened to the rest of the crew and why does it require so many gears and tiny top hats to figure it out?
Third, it’s being directed by Brian Watson-Jones, part of my pre-Fringe Top 10 list from way back in 2009 in his Tedious Brief Productions days, and who just had a truly great 5-star solo show in last year’s Fringe, "Close Call: A How-Not-To Guide to Being a POS"
Destiny Davison and her Dolly Who? cartoon improv format were on my pre-Fringe Top 10 list back in 2023 but the vagaries of scheduling had my attendance at the show landing on the very last day of the Fringe Festival in the very last slot, so consequently I didn’t have time to sit down and write a review, though I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I’ve seen Destiny since then with both Blackout Improv and doing her own cartooning/improvisation thing in the waning days of HUGE theater. Very much looking forward to another Fringe outing.
Show Description: Cartoonist DOLLY WHO? presents a one Dolly, many monster, horror-holiday spectacular that blends variety show, fear, joy, & merriment together for an improvised romp that's a lil' different every time!
At Fringe, no one can hear you scream… [Editor’s note: this is another Fringe show this year playing around with this old horror movie tag line, which I love]
Zombies! Pumpkin pie! Werewolves! Invisible men! Final girls! Awkward family gatherings! Plains, Trains, and Automobiles! What do these things all have in common?
Find out in DOLLY WHO?’S HOLIDAY HORROR SHOW, a brand new solo show from your friendly neighborhood horror-loving cartoonist, Dolly Who? (a.k.a. Destiny Davison).
Picking up where 2023’s Minnesota Fringe sleeper hit DOLLY WHO? left off, Dolly brings a brand-new cast of whimsical--and terrifying--cartoon friends, imaginary holidays (and maybe some real ones), appropriately festive pomp, millennial angst, and misguided hopes together for an unforgettable variety show that’s “a little different” every time you see it. Born out of the question "what does a holiday show run by monsters look like?" that jolted her out of bed at 2am one night, this show is a feverish ode to fear and joy in equal measure, in no small part inspired by watching THE FLY too soon as a child and HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS too late.
If you love all things horror and cute little party hats that jingle when you walk, MIDSOMMAR and ELF, still dream about owning a Twist-A-Braid, or are wondering how anyone can celebrate anything when everything is awful, this show is for you.
[If that isn’t enough to get you there, I don’t know what is.
Maybe her bio?]
Destiny Davison (she/her/they) is a multi-media artist, cartoonist, animator, and performer based in the Twin Cities. She’s appeared on stages throughout Minnesota, including The Ordway, Pangea World Theater, The Playwright’s Center, the Bryant Lake Bowl, Strike Theater, HUGE Theater, and the Crane Theater. She is also a member of Blackout Improv. She's Queer, she's B and POC, and she's vegan but don't tell anyone about that because they don't like it.
Her artwork has appeared on Apple TV and TPT Almanac, and been commissioned by the Star Tribune, Planned Parenthood, the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA), Theatre Pro Rata, the Minnesota Billboard Project, and others. Find her at www.destinydavison.com and @hellodollywho.
Read comics and stay updated on all things DOLLY WHO? at www.dollywho.com
I’m going to try very hard not to wait until the last day of Fringe this time :) You shouldn’t either. A Dolly Who? show is great fun, and a change of pace from pretty much everything else at the festival, just like it was last time.
This is an odd one because back in 2022 when this artist was on my pre-Fringe Top 20 list, the show didn’t happen, due to illness among the company, I think.
So this one’s kind of a mulligan.
Grief, It’s What’s For Dinner Venue: Open Eye Theatre Show description: Grief is hard. Trying to process it alone is even harder. While Kate's mom slowly slips away from Alzheimer's, Kate seeks hope and connection from her sibling, her therapist, Support Group Guy...and puppets? Genre & Content: Comedy, Drama, Puppets
Oddly enough, there was another show at Open Eye in last year’s Fringe that was also about a dying family member that included extensive use of puppets - Teen Wolf Killed My Grandma (which I was looking forward to, and quite liked)
But Matthew, you say, do you really want to see a Fringe show about a dying mother figure?
I’d like to get a shot at seeing her work up on stage, more fully realized, in person. So I’m giving this one a shot. Also, we’re being promised (or warned about) “Adult language, Crude Humor, and Mental illness” - with puppets!
The More Information tab and additional press info provide further context:
Based on a true story. A very recent true story. We hope you laugh, cry, and remember your loved ones with us.
Grief is hard. Trying to process it over a decade is even harder. In 2015, Playwright Kayla Hambek learned her mother was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's at the unheard-of age of fifty-three. As she watched her mom's slow decline, Kayla struggled to separate fact from fiction about the disease, support her family, and face her fears about her own future. In Grief, It's What's For Dinner, Kate (totally not Kayla) fights her own anxieties in the form of handmade puppets and seeks hope and connection from the humans in her life - her sibling, her support group, and ultimately her mom.
Let’s give this another shot, shall we?
(Oh, and flying in the face of the comedy guideline "don't explain a joke," if the title doesn't ring a bell, it took me a minute, but there was a meat industry ad campaign back in the day (still cranking along on the internet), touting "Beef, It's What's For Dinner" - so just a bit of rhyming humor there :)
It was great to see this artist returning for another go at the Fringe.
Abdimalik Ahmed, co-writer and co-director on this year’s production, first tackled Fringe in 2023 as a solo act, "The Place I Return To" (part of my Top 20 list that year, and a 5-star show when I saw it). This time he’s got all kinds of company. Maryan Yusuf and Sabrin Nur have joined him as writers, and Nadwa Hussein is co-directing, plus a cast of eight actors, a producing and marketing team, so this company is growing, expanding from solo show to ensemble piece this time.
Your Hello to My Goodbye Venue: Mixed Blood Theatre Genre/Content: Comedy, Drama, Storytelling Show Description: Saxarla is off to New York for her very first job, and tomorrow morning, she leaves home for good—or so she thinks. But on this final night, as she packs her bags and shares quiet moments with her family, something begins to stir. As shadows grow long and the hours slip away, buried truths come to light and familiar bonds begin to shift. Poignant, powerful, and deeply human, “Your Hello is My Goodbye” is a heartfelt exploration of growing up, letting go, and the complicated love that holds us together—even when it’s time to part.
You can find more behind the scenes info on the production on their website and Instagram and TikTok accounts, but the quick version of what the company’s about from the More Information tab on their show page says:
Cornucopia is a horn of plenty, symbolizing the abundance and immense talent spilling forth from the Horn of Africa. It is our mission to amplify East African voices in producing creative works, showcasing that there is no end to our artistry because our Horn is a Cornucopia.
At Cornucopia Productions, we believe in the endless abundance of creativity within the East African diaspora. As a Minnesota-based artist collective, we use storytelling as a tool to preserve culture, spark imagination, and foster community.
Our name reflects our roots — the Horn of Africa — and our mission: to spill forth bold, meaningful productions that echo with the richness of where we come from and where we’re going. We are here to amplify East African voices and to prove that our Horn is, and always will be, a Cornucopia.
I found Ahmed’s 2023 solo show “The Place I Return To” to be one of the more compelling shows I saw that year, and I was sad it didn’t find a wider audience. Hopefully with more folks involved in the project this time around, helping spread the word, their audiences will grow accordingly. You should definitely check out "Your Hello To My Goodbye" if you get the chance. I’m going to.
Since the new top 10/top 20 list and the related project of my Fringe schedule is taking a bit longer than expected to congeal while juggling the two day jobs, being treasurer of my condo association, literary director of a small queer theater company, writing the final report to a granting organization for the aforementioned small queer theater company, and participating on the negotiating team for a new union contract at the Guthrie Theater (phew), let’s get the blog rolling by writing about some things that are less complicated, like shows from returning artists that I’m happy to see creating new Fringe productions.
Let’s kick it off with the folks who did my favorite Fringe show last year:
Theatre on the Rocks (aka, writer/performer Sam Sweere, with support from director Hannah Steblay, stage manager Marsh Kelly (both part of last year’s show) and new addition this year, Leah Sweere)
Last year, Sam & Co. concocted “A Horse Walks Out Onto The Stage and Dies” which caught my eye in previews, and delivered in such unexpected and compelling ways that I ended up seeing the thing three times (a rarity in my Fringe-going, with so many shows to see, and such limited time in which to see them.). They ended up snagging two Golden Lanyard Awards at the end of the Festival, one for having the highest audience attendance for their venue, and one from their fellow Fringe artists, the Underdog Award for a first time Fringe producer taking bold risks.
What do you follow that up with?
Well, that’s assuming it’s up to you what happens next.
Let’s let Sweere’s publicity pitch do the talking:
Here’s the summary of the show on their page on the Fringe website:
A Good Cancer To Have Venue: Mixed Blood Theatre (no pun intended) Show Description: This year cancer tried to kill me. This is the show I wrote about it.
It’s billed as a solo show, with Sam Sweere as “Cancer Guy” but also has Leah Sweere listed as “Wife”
It’s also billed as a comedy.
Which makes sense, because if you can get that many laughs out of the death of a horse, you should be able to make fun of your own cancer as well.
Everything you've heard about cancer isn't true. It's actually cool and a good hang. All it does is give you intense chills, hot flashes, nightmares, blisters, mouth sores, anemia, a compromised immune system, the destruction of your bone marrow, malaise, fatigue to the point that keeping your head up is hard, gross things I don't want to write on the public page, acidic urine, depression, anxiety, rubbery skin, brain fog, intense stomach pain and your mouth tasting like nickels all the time. It's genuinely not that bad.
The pitch in the Fringe press packet went like this:
After producing "A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies" to critical and audience acclaim at the 2024 Fringe Festival, the stage was set for another exciting, genre pushing and ultimately entertaining show from Sam Sweere!
Unfortunately instead he got cancer. So now he has to do a show about his cancer.
And if you went to the goofy horse show and don't go to the show about a twenty-five year old's battle with cancer it says a lot about you as a person.
"A Good Cancer to Have", A somewhat exciting, debatably genre pushing and yet still entertaining show premiering at the Mixed Blood Theatre
One might think, since my mother died from a brain tumor just six years ago, that I might not be on board for shows about cancer, and you’d be half right. Shows about people dying from cancer, I’ll pass. Shows about people surviving cancer, that I’ll watch.
And honestly, any show Sam Sweere puts on, I’m there.
His theater brain doesn’t work like my theater brain, and I’m fascinated watching it in action and trying to figure it out. It’s like reading poetry. I can’t write poetry, but I enjoy a good poem when I read it. I can’t do the kind of theater Sam Sweeere does, but as an audience member, I find it enormously compelling. If you saw “A Horse Walks Out Onto the Stage and Dies” last year, you know what I’m talking about. If you didn’t, “A Good Cancer To Have” is your chance to see what all the fuss is about.
I already know I’m seeing it opening night of the festival this year. And there’s also three other shows I really wanted to see playing at the same venue the rest of the night around “A Good Cancer To Have” so that’s an easy first day of Fringing all planned out already. Maybe I’ll see you there.
While reading through the information on the Minnesota Fringe Festival offerings this year, I find I'm having a different reaction to certain content than I would have, say, a year ago.
So much dystopia in the mix this year.
And I find I'm having a hard time getting excited about that when there's, you know, current events in America covered on the news on a daily basis.
And I have friends who are scared, or exhausted, or both.
As well as friends who are protesting.
And I'm trying to help keep the wheels turning on a queer theater company.
And I'm part of the team trying to negotiate the first contract for a new union for an employee group at the Guthrie Theater.
And my other day job is raising scholarship money so young people can go to college, but hey, watch out with all that diversity you have in your scholarship criteria.
Part of my brain is screaming at me that I don't need any fictional dystopian content right now, probably not any political content either, there isn't bandwidth because, well, I open my eyes every morning and look around me so...
I'm not sure I necessarily need a full escapist roster of content.
But I also don't need to wallow any more in something I've got plenty of already in day to day life so...
The schedule's going to be more of a challenge than I bargained on in some ways.
There is something uniquely fun for me about poking around the Minnesota Fringe Festival website right away in the early days of July each year.
It's constantly evolving. They're putting the finishing touches on the schedule because people drop out and new people are slotted in. (While I was perusing the listings and breaking them down by various categories just now, a new title popped up that wasn't there when I started clicking through the site earlier this afternoon, for instance.) (Also, right after I posted this the first time, a show changed its title and shifted in the alphabetical listings on me, but I found it again :)
I've already printed out schedules that will quickly become out of date. And rather than be annoyed by the fact that I'm inevitably going to be scratching out some show names and writing in others, I actually find that oddly enjoyable. The festival is a living, breathing thing that keeps mutating in unexpected ways, sometimes even after its opened and is up and running. Keeps me on my toes, and from getting too confident that I know everything there is to know, because no one ever does.
Artists update their show images on the website from that thing they just threw together to satisfy the deadline to that more refined idea they finally completed so they could do their publicity properly. I find that amusing to watch, and often strangely informative as well.
One marvels at the shows that pop up in multiple categories that seem to have little or no crossover (such as, how can something be a sci fi, dance, improv, horror, comedy clowning show with puppets? I don't know but I think I'm interested in finding out)
It's just as fun to run across the few dozen returning favorites you recognize from Fringes past as it is to have your mind boggled by all the new artists you've never heard of and their wild ideas for shows lasting less than an hour each.
So the sifting has begun (after all, one can only see so many shows, even if one takes no breaks and sees a show in every slot, there's only 55(?) things you can see [math is not my friend but I think I added that up right], and way more shows than that from which to choose so...)
Thirty days and counting, with a couple of preview nights before we get to opening.
Time to trot out a new Top 10/Top 20, plus a rundown of the reliables both old and new that are taking the stage yet again this year.
Playwright, Literary Director for Threshold Theater, theater arts blogger, mostly about the Minnesota Fringe Festival - other useful links for me in the header above.
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